I have a dish and a LNB - What's next?

[dennis33]

I’m looking to get started in FTA reception on the Ku Band sats. I already have a 90cm W x 80cm H (35”x31”) dish and a LNBF – P1705 ADTH Single Output Digital - Input Freq.: 11.7 – 12.2GHz – Output Freq.: 950-1450 MHz that I found a few years ago in a neighbors’ garbage pile. Does this look like a good starting point? (I hope that I uploaded the pictures correctly) Any suggestions for adding a motor to this dish?


I’m looking for a receiver that can be used to supplement my fringe OTA reception in my new barn in Northern Pennsylvania. I think that blind search feature is important since I’m a rookie in this area and I’m looking to motorize the dish in the future.

Some of what I would like to watch are sports, news, PBS, Networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX), old TV shows… entertaining things!

I see that there are some reasonable ‘buys’ on the ‘auction’ site but not sure if that’s the way to go for a nooobeee. Currently there’s a used IV-200 PVR for $50. Sounds good to me, but what do I know! That’s why I came here. What if it’s a ‘hacked’ unit? Can it be brought back to original condition for FTA only? Or does that really matter?

I would appreciate any input to getting me going in this area since the OTA reception in the barn will be minimal according to tvfool.com and antennaweb. We usually go up to the barn for weekends to get some work done and there’s not much to do once the sun goes down (and it’s going down earlier these days!) and we just got the electricity connected by the electric company, so I’m ready for some entertainment!

Thanks,

Dennis in NJ, Barn in PA

 

[Anole]

tail wagging the dog?

The dish should be fine to get you going.
Search for happy users and more info.

The LNB seems fine, just off hand.
I didn't do any research, but what you posted sounds generic.

I like the receiver. If it's $50 delivered, and in excellent shape, I don't think you're going wrong.
If it needs factory firmware, here's how to restore it in this recent thread.

Most PBS reception will require a Dolby AC3 decoder.
That means a coax or fiber optical cable from the FTA receiver to a hi-fi amplifier with a suitable decoder.
...or use of an external decoder; search on Sonic Voom for info on this $20 accessory.

Motor? If you get one of these, just make sure the dish will fit the motor's output shaft.
Measurements are listed for each motor.
Larger shafts are for heavier dishes.

 

[turbosat]

Good looking dish! I wouldn't use plastic pipe for it though-especially if you want to motorize it (after you move it to the location you want). The pole needs to be rock solid and as close to plumb as you can get it, to be able to track the satellite arc.

 

[dennis33]

Anole - It's 50 + 15 shipping... I may see if it's still there and pull the trigger. Thanks for the info on the motors and the AC3 decoder. I'll start looking for these.

turbosat - that plastic pipe is temporary. Just want to get the dish off of the ground. When I bring it up to the barn, I'll put in a suitable metal mount!

Dennis

 

[dennis33]

Got A Visionsat IV 200 now! Next is a motor!?!

Now I want to get a motor for the dish. But I think that I need a motor that has the tube facing 'UP' and not "DOWN' like the Powertech. There's a tab at the top of the dish mount that stops the support pipe when it's inserted from the bottom. If you look at the back of my dish you'll see what I mean.

http://www.satelliteguys.us/attachment.php?attachmentid=43581&d=1256567485

What do I do now?

Dennis

 

[turbosat]

Well, you ask the anole!! (first pic) Here's the way one guy did it. I took a little different slant when I put my primestar dish on the 380, mostly the same except I used a big muffler clamp at the top of the tube, and a 2 1/2" conduit hanger at the bottom. That way there is room to adjust the dish elevation at the bottom of the motor shaft. Been working since April or so, no hiccups yet.

 

[brentb636]

I've had to cut off TABS like that with a hacksaw. The dish also works without the tab.

 

[dennis33]

So, If I cut off the tabs I can use any motor that has the tube going DOWN? and not need to get a Stab HH-90, 100, 120? (makes sense to me, but what do I know)

Hopefully Anole will chime in here. In the meantime I'll start looking around here for more info.

Dennis

 

[dennis33]

Wait... What if I take the mount off of the dish and flip it - if it's even possible? Would that mess anything up when setting up the angles?

 

[Apprentice]

Looks like a good start to me. I just took the LNB and Switch off a dish just like that one and threw the dish away guess maybe I should have kept it around lol.

Hope you get a good start and enjoy.

Chuck

 

[dennis33]

I just spent a few days at the barn with a large UHF antenna and a new 26" Vizio HDTV. I pointed the antenna all over the compass and ran a scan on the TV. Nothing, 0, zero signals found as I suspected.

Next will be to bring up the the dish when the Visionsat IV 200 arrives and get into FTA. I do have a great southern view! Looks like it's my only option! I just have to figure out the motor option! I'm going to cut off the tabs first and go from there.

Dennis

 

[mikelib]

I just spent a few days at the barn with a large UHF antenna and a new 26" Vizio HDTV. I pointed the antenna all over the compass and ran a scan on the TV. Nothing, 0, zero signals found as I suspected.

Next will be to bring up the the dish when the Visionsat IV 200 arrives and get into FTA. I do have a great southern view! Looks like it's my only option! I just have to figure out the motor option! I'm going to cut off the tabs first and go from there.

Dennis

How Close are you to Philly??? I get about 6 to 7 stations with an UHF antenna designed for 50 miles. You can go on tvfool.com and put in your adress and it will tell you what VHF & UHF TV Stations you should be able to receive.

 

[Tron]

I just took the LNB and Switch off a dish just like that one and threw the dish away guess maybe I should have kept it around lol.

Around here, you'll learn that every dish has uses. I even stopped to pick up an original DirecTV Phase I that was thrown out in someone's trash a few days ago ... Some members have gotten FSS Ku on these small dishes after changing out the LNBF for a linear model.

 

[Lak7]

That is a "Bob Jones" satellite dish, very nice.
I have one with an SG2100 motor.

 

[dennis33]

How Close are you to Philly??? I get about 6 to 7 stations with an UHF antenna designed for 50 miles. You can go on tvfool.com and put in your adress and it will tell you what VHF & UHF TV Stations you should be able to receive.

No way... Philly is over 140 miles. Scranton is about 50 and Binghamton, NY is over 35, but there are many hills/mountains in the way. From tvfool.com, I'm on the fringe of all signals from all sources.

Thanks,

Dennis

 

[dennis33]

That is a "Bob Jones" satellite dish, very nice.
I have one with an SG2100 motor.

What's the shaft diameter of the SG2100 on that dish?

 

[Lak7]

The shaft on an SG2100 is 1-5/8"

 

[dennis33]

I cut the tabs off of the dish mount (just a few wiggles with pliers did the trick) and mounted it on a 1 5/8" pipe. Everything looks good so the next step is looking for a motor mount (and waiting for the Visionsat IV 200 to arrive). Which of the following would be a good choice? SG2100, SG6000 or DG280.

 

[dennis33]

My Visionsat IV 200 PVR arived today! I fired it up (without a connection to a dish) and went to "System Information" and here is what the settings are:

Model IV 200
Loader Version L1.01
H/W Version s1000 1.00
Application Version 2.30
Driver Version API 1.2.15
Data Version FDU v1.2

It looks like the 2.30 version is pretty much up to date and I probably don't need to change that. Am I right here? (I did download v1.20 and put it on a USB drive a few days ago)

I'll be bringing up the dish/lnb/IV200/RG-6 up to the barn this weekend and try to locate some birds!

Should my first Sat be one that is closest to the south (that would be 74W Horizon 2? Or should I use Galaxy 19 like I've seen mentioned several times here? I'm not going to be using a motor mount yet. I'll get to that in the next few weeks.

Thanks,

Dennis

Barn in PA at 41d 52m / 75d 22m

 

[Bill_KY]

Should my first Sat be one that is closest to the south (that would be 74W Horizon 2? Or should I use Galaxy 19 like I've seen mentioned several times here? I'm not going to be using a motor mount yet. I'll get to that in the next few weeks.

Thanks,

Dennis

Barn in PA at 41d 52m / 75d 22m

Go with 97West for starters, a lot of TV and radio on that bird. I too have a Visionsat IV 200 PVR too it is a good sensitive receiver. I use it as my "dish alignment receiver" .

On 125 West there is WSEE a CBS affliliate and Montana PBS.